Tool frontman and award-winning winemaker on juggling rock and vines
This US hard rock frontman is also making some inroads into his other job while his band is on its massive Aussie tour.
Some rock stars are not like us. Like Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan.
This rock renaissance man is also an award-winning winemaker, whose Aussie connections hook him up with some of our most rare and iconic drops.
Ahead of kicking off Tool’s return for the Good Things festivals and a handful of side shows last weekend, this serious wine guy shared how he drank – and tested – a bottle of Bin 60A Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 1962, worth up to $30,000.
He dropped this humble brag came as he explained how the wines he produces via his Caduceus Cellars and Merkin Vineyards in Arizona tend to be lower-alcohol reds in the “older European and Australian style.”
He said American palate tended towards “oakier, high alcohol wines” until enthusiasts – and Tool fans – discovered the more drinkable alternatives from outside the US.
“I had an extremely famous Penfold’s wine, the one-off Bin 60A; it went for auction for 30 grand a couple of years ago, it’s super rare and I ended up with a bottle because I bought it through (Chief Winemaker) Peter Gago,” he said.
“I had a couple of other bottles like that one in the cellar so during Covid, I had friends sneak over and we thought it was the end of the world, so f… it, we’re gonna drink these wines.
“They were drinking beautifully and when we put them through the tests … the surprising part was the alcohol (levels) on these three extremely famous put together well-made wines from 1962, 1955 and 1967 was between 11.8 per cent and 12.3 per cent.
“So what I do in the cellar is I gravitate toward those lower alcohol reds that are drinkable and more in the older European and older Australian style where it was a lighter wine that still has structure. You’re having the wine with dinner, not for dinner.”
Keenan is one of a community of successful celebrity winemakers including Sam Neill (Two Paddocks), Kylie Minogue, P!nk (Two Wolves), Jon Bon Jovi (Hampton Water) and Snoop Dogg (19 Crimes).
His Caduceus wines are not a Friday night Netflix and pizza quaffer. The limited, small batch range, available via a local importer, will cost you between $80 and $205.
“Part of (the price) is the tariffs. Part of it is the shipping, the extra money for cold storage to get it all the way over there,” Keenan said.
He also juggles two other bands, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, founded a jujitsu academy and owns a vinyl cafe.
The man who schedules his rock tours around grape harvesting season said he juggles it all “one thing at a time.”
“Focus on what’s in front of you. Sit down and make a plan for what you’re going to do tomorrow. Write it down. In my Mac, I set up the schedule to make sure that I understand what I need to do,” he said.
“As soon as we’re wrapped, I have to go put these submerged cap plates into the sangiovese … otherwise, there’s wine all over the floor tomorrow.”
He devotes the same methodical focus, alongside bandmates Danny Carey, Adam Jones and Justin Chancellor, to one of the tasks that generates more speculation and reaction from Tool fans than when’s the next album – devising the setlist.
Keenan said he wanted to “dust off older tracks” for the Australian shows and fans who caught the opening gigs in Adelaide on the weekend scored epic live rarities including “H.:, “Crawl Away”, “Intension” and “Disposition.”
“A lot of it comes down to age, right? I can’t do all the heavy songs one after another. You have to pace yourself,” he said.
“I’ve been able to go back and do things from Undertow (1993) and Opiate (1992) because I sprinkle in the other things to give you a chance to recover for the next song.
“If I try to do all those early Opiate songs in a row, I’m done. That’s it. It’s a 20-minute set.”
The Black Sabbath classic “Hand of Doom”, which the band played at the tribute concert to Ozzy Osbourne just days before his death in July, was also on the setlist for the band’s opening shows in Australia.
Tool headline the Good Things festivals at Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse on December 5, the Sydney Showground on December 6 and Brisbane Showgrounds on December 7.
Originally published as Tool frontman and award-winning winemaker on juggling rock and vines
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